So. Pastry school. The first two weeks here have been a cluster-- I arrived in Chicago the day before I started school, and since then I've been juggling classes, a new city, and an apartment full of boxes.

Class for me begins at 6am sharp every day, and from there it's six hours or so of basic skills-- meringues, knife skills, piping, and an endless stream of information on how fat shortens gluten strands and eggs leaven. In my sleepy state I've already taken several chunks off my fingers, which might beat the X-acto blade damage I did finishing projects in design school (probably at approximately the same time in the morning). It's intense-- I wear a cravat (that's French for "fancy tie that is hot and scratchy") and say "yes, chef" a lot-- but I'm definitely, well, immersed.

here's some of the fun stuff i've been doing while you guys are asleep:


fruit plates-- they came out a little fussy but they were fun despite my utter lack of knife skillz


meringue cups (filled with nutella)


and lots and lots of piping practice.





People keep asking me what we do with the leftovers. Most of the stuff goes to our cafeteria (everything we eat is made by the culinary and pastry students). But the uggos we get to keep, of which there are many. So be looking for your jacked up cookies in the mail.